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Inside Politics

Simone Biles Lands the Hardest Vault in Women's Gymnastic; CDC: 25 States & DC Have Fully Vaccinated At Least 50 Percent of Adults; Senator Rand Paul: "I'm Not Getting Vaccinated"; Cory Booker: "Meaningful Progress" But No Deal Yet On Police Reform; Moment Ago: White House Says Biden Remains Hopeful on Police Reform. Aired 12- 12:30p ET

Aired May 24, 2021 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:00:00]

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDET: Next up for Biles' U.S. Olympic team trials in June they - of course the Olympics in July.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm just - on the whole source I'm thinking, just tell me I can't. That's what all three of them are saying right now.

SCHOLES: Right.

BOLDUAN: It is just fantastic. Thanks, Andy. I really appreciate it. We needed that today. Thank you all. John King pick up right now.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Hello, everybody. Welcome to Inside Politics. I'm John King in Washington. Thank you for sharing what is shaping up as a very busy Monday. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Make or break week for the Biden Administration. There are major deadlines and decisions looming on multiple pieces of the president's agenda. For example, the Police Reform Bill that president wanted on his desk by tomorrow. That's the one year anniversary of George Floyd's murder. Well, that legislation is not finished.

Infrastructure negotiations with Republicans are a trillion dollars apart plus the president today sending his top diplomat to the Middle East and the president making a promise to not put Israel and Gaza on the back burner now that rockets and airstrikes have stopped.

More on the big political stakes of those stories ahead, but up first for us today, COVID numbers signal normal or at least near normal is close. The United States today hitting a key milestone 25 states and the District of Columbia have fully vaccinated at least half of their adult populations.

Important signs of "The Times" right there take a look. Weekend images of fans jamming ballparks and arenas for baseball and the start of the NBA playoffs on the other side New York's Mayor pledges city schools will be fully open in the fall, no more remote learning, the trajectory is good, quite good. But the threat is by no means gone. Your choice about the COVID vaccine is paramount. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY): I think it's an environment right now where we're not going to build rely necessarily on public health ordinances and mandates from Governors and Mayors to protect us but we're going to have to protect ourselves based on our own assessment of our risk and our own comfort. And so if you're unvaccinated, you're going to be at higher risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Let's walk through the latest numbers. And most of them, as I said, are quite encouraging. Number one, you look at the case count, Sundays the reporting tends to be down. You see the new infections yesterday 12,853. That's very low.

But look at this the seven day average now below 30,000 the seven day average of new infections 25,270 that is the lowest average since nearly a year ago back in June 2020 the case count coming down.

If you look here, 25 states and the District of Columbia 25 states half the states plus the District of Columbia now have fully vaccinated at least half of their population. That's one of the reasons those case counts are way down because of the success here of the vaccine rollout.

If you want to look at this politically, you see 21 of those states plus the District of Columbia so 21 of the 25 states plus D.C. blue states when it comes to presidential politics carried by Joe Biden. Four Trump states have vaccinated half of their population. There is a political dynamic, unfortunately, to the mask debates, the vaccine debates and so on. We've seen it throughout the pandemic.

Who's leading the pack? Maine 63 percent of the Maine population fully vaccinated. Who's trailing the pack? That would be Mississippi still 34 percent of its population fully vaccinated. If you look here, in terms of adults, half of American adults are now vaccinated. That's why the case count is down. That's why hospitalizations are down. And that's why deaths finally are going down as well.

61 percent of the population the adult population in the United States vaccinated. Nine states have already met the president's goal of at least 70 percent of their adults to have at least one shot but president wants that by July 4th, nine states are already there all the New England states plus New Jersey, New Mexico and Hawaii.

You see up here in the northeast remember how hard it was in New York in New Jersey in New England early on in the pandemic? The situation here has improved a lot so much so listen here; New York City is beginning to reopen. The Mayor says when the school students back in classroom no more remote learning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DE BLASIO: New York City public schools one million kids will be back in their classroom in September all in-person, no remote. We have proven we can beat back COVID all over this country and school opens four months from now. So I absolutely believe COVID will continue go down vaccinations will go up, recovery will be strong. I think the CDC will be changing those rules quite a bit between now and September.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: With us to share their reporting and their important insights today an Associate Professor of Medicine at Emory University, Dr. J. Varkey, our CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju and White House Correspondent for "POLITICO" Laura Barron-Lopez.

Dr. Varkey, I want to start with you because you heard the Mayor there and his optimism. Dr. Gottlieb making the case though, that people still has to make a personal choice, especially if you have not received your vaccine yet.

I just want to show you, you can look at this politically. This is Trump states 2020 and Biden states 2020 and the vaccine rollout off late. You see the blue line that's the Biden states more people are getting vaccines in the blue states.

Here's another way to look at it, which I think is quite telling. This is Kaiser Family Foundation polling. And if you look at the left of your screen, 75 percent of those who have a college degree are vaccinated, only half of workers who do not have. Americans who did not have a college degree are vaccinated.

[12:05:00]

KING: 12 percent of those with college degrees say they will definitely not, no way am I getting a vaccine? Nearly twice that 22 percent of Americans without a college degree say they're definitely not going to get a COVID vaccine. How do I do a better job? How to medical professionals like yourself to a better job to reach these people who are hesitant and reluctant and tell them you need to do this?

DR. JAY VARKEY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Yes, John thinks it's a great question. And I think the answer is we do it one shot at a time. Look, I mean, viruses are not political. But anytime the response to the pandemic is politicized by elected officials, the more likely our vulnerable communities and our essential workers are meant to suffer.

Vaccination rates are more complex in my opinion than just political affiliation. If you look at a lot of the states that have lagged in vaccination, my State of Georgia included, most of those states have a long history of not providing adequate resources for public health departments.

And this is the reason why many physicians myself included my entire division of Infectious Diseases at Emory, have volunteered our time to actually collaborate with Fulton County Health Department, and vaccine over 2500 residents of Metro Atlanta last month.

One of the key lessons in my opinion of this pandemic is to avoid the disparities that have adversely affected our most vulnerable communities, including a lot of our essential workers who rely on access to safe and effective vaccines.

One of those key lessons should be the need for a sustained commitment to provide adequate resources for public health departments, not just to finish the end game of this pandemic, but also be better prepared in the future.

KING: And part of that you're setting a great example. You and colleagues, you see a gap in the system, find some way to step up and help out and help people get those shots. So let me bring the conversation in the room.

We have seen from the beginning of this politics, from a president in the Trump days who just didn't take the science seriously, didn't take common sense seriously mocked the pandemic that has now ravaged the country. But we still see it, including Dr. Rand Paul, he's an Ophthalmologist but Dr. Rand Paul, who had COVID and listen here, he says, because I had COVID, I don't need to get a vaccine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): Until they show me evidence that people have already had the infection are dying in large numbers or being hospitalized or getting very sick. I've just made my own personal decision that I'm not getting vaccinated because I've already had the disease and I have natural immunity now.

You know, in a free country, you would think people would honor you know, the idea that each individual would get to make their medical decisions that wouldn't be big brother coming and telling me, you know what I have to do, or they can also tell me, I can't have a cheeseburger for lunch?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: He's dead right on the last part, individual choice especially he has a libertarian streak in his politics and how he faced personal philosophy? However, he's also a doctor and a senator and a leader at a time when people are looking to influences for clues about what to do.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And look, he was the one Senator throughout the pandemic, who was not wearing a mask in the Capitol. There were no mandates in the Senate side to wear masks in the House there were because a lot of Republicans in the House Republican Conference were not wearing masks. But he was the only one who wouldn't. And he would continually make the case well; I've had COVID before so I am immune, which is ahead of where the science is?

The science says that we don't exactly know? Dr. Fauci has testified that you could be immune if you have the virus, but we also don't have the exact science that's out there. So he has been one that has been pushing this, but his line has been repeated by a number of Republicans in the House Republican Conference, a small group, but enough more vocal and have a following who could if they took a different tack and said everyone should get the vaccine, perhaps convince those skeptics among Americans who refuse to get vaccinated, as we've seen from the polls.

KING: Right. And to that point, many of them you can just overlay the map. Many of them are Republicans or Conservatives from sub states, where Dr. Varkey laid out some of the reasons. It's not all politics, but where the vaccine rollout is behind, and people in positions of authority and power, are saying I don't want to wear a mask of the House floor. Nancy Pelosi is wrong. I don't need a vaccine.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: Yes. And it shows up in the House, right, which is where half of the Republican Conference in the House is not vaccinated. And they have not said whether or not they plan to get vaccinated. CNN has reported that thoroughly.

So this is even though not all elements of vaccine, willingness to get a vaccine are political the fact that these Republican leaders are politicizing it, that they're making it a big issue for them when they talk to their voters. And as they're trying to win back in the House and as they're trying to win back the Senate.

You see them make it a very cultural issue defiantly saying they aren't going to wear masks, they aren't going to get vaccines. And it goes along with this pattern of being anti-science in the Republican Party that has grown and grown over the years.

KING: So Dr. Varkey come in with a medical perspective. We're learning every day and sometimes it is true. Some of the things we said a year ago about this pandemic a year ago are not true today. We have learned more or they're slightly different because we had learned more.

On the question Senator Paul raises, I had COVID therefore I don't need a vaccine unless someone shows me the science that proves otherwise. What do we know?

[12:10:00]

DR. VARKEY: Yes, so, John, the public health guidance on this is crystal clear. Even if someone has already had COVID-19 and recovered, like Rand Paul, they should be vaccinated. The reason for this is also quite clear, as you said we don't yet know exactly how long immunity last after infection and the duration likely differs from person to person.

Again, all of us have different immune systems. Rand Paul has recovered from COVID-19. It is possible though, thankfully today quite rare that he could get re infected and the rate of re infection may increase over time, especially as immunity wanes, and more importantly, with the emergence of some of these various strains so vaccination is the safest and most effective way to build a durable immune response that protects you, your family, your friends and your community.

KING: I want to make clear here, this is what I'm going to call a little equal opportunity, outrage. I'm going to put a picture up of the Democratic Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, by Breitbart, a Conservative News Agency, but it doesn't matter who received this first, this is the Governor violating her own COVID protocols supposed to be six people at a table maximum.

She says she went out for drinks with friends, more friends showed up. Everybody was vaccinated, so they push the table together. OK, that happens. That happens but when you're a Governor, and you set the rules, you have to follow the rule that's the way it has to work. That's hypocrisy.

RAJU: Yes. Channeling Gavin Newsom who had the same issue in California, similar issue last year when he clearly was violating rules that he had said, as well. I mean, that is - Michigan has been ground zero for this, as Laura was saying cultural war over this issue of mask and the like and she's been very strict and out front on these issues. And she should abide by what she's setting here. And I think she realized that she's in a bit of hot water.

KING: And then lastly, for this conversation, there's this. There are - you can have it - you know, Rand Paul likes his fights with Dr. Fauci; Governor Whitmer has had to apologize. This is a whole different level. This is an entirely different level.

This is Marjorie Taylor Greene, a member of Congress swears an oath to the Constitution, maybe didn't study your history very well. You can disagree with Nancy Pelosi about whether you should wear a mask in the House. But this is reprehensible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): You know, we can look back at a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star and they were definitely treated like second class citizens so much so that they were putting trains and take into gas chambers in Nazi Germany and this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about.

I stand by all of my statements. I said nothing wrong. And I think any rational Jewish person didn't like what happened in Nazi Germany and any rational Jewish person doesn't like what's happening with overbearing mask mandates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Hopefully rational Jewish person. No, wrong reprehensible.

BARRON-LOPEZ: Yes, that winking that goading, that trolling of Jews is a classic anti-Semitic tactic used throughout history. And Marjorie Taylor Greene has proven a history of comments that are racist, that are bigoted, and that are anti-Semitic.

Now, the bigger question is where is the condemnation from leadership in the House? Where's the condemnation from other GOP leaders and trying to push back against this or actually execute some kind of censure or punishment, which, you know, years ago, you would have thought that that would have been happened right away.

KING: Yes. It is a fantastic point about leadership and stepping up because last week, President Biden said something complimented about Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who is Palestinian, who has family who lives in the West Bank. And he said, I'm listening, I'm hearing you.

I'm trying to help. And the Republicans jumped on it. He's soft on Israel. He's not standing with American Jews. Oh my God! This is an outrage. Where are you Kevin McCarthy? Where are you Steve Scalise? Where are you Mitch McConnell? Why don't you do something?

RAJU: Yes. And look, Republicans have tried to make the Israel issue in light of the recent conflict, something that they get run on because Democrats have been divided over this. But they are silent over Marjorie Taylor Greene nothing yet from Kevin McCarthy nothing yet from Steve Scalise number two, nothing there from Elise Stefanik who is the new number three.

But the ousted number three, Liz Cheney has called this as lunacy. She says evil lunacy. But she was the one who was reprimanded of course because of her fighting with Donald Trump. And that caused outrage from the Republican leadership but nothing yet on Marjorie Taylor Greene.

KING: Manu and Laura are going to stay with us. Dr. Varkey thank you for joining the program nice to meet you on television we'll do it again another time. I appreciate your insights. Up next for us the Floyd family heads to the White House tomorrow. There's still some glimmer of hope for police reform. We'll check in on the status next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:15:00]

KING: Tomorrow is a sad anniversary for the United States and a missed deadline for its President. George Floyd's family will visit the White House one year after Mr. Floyd was pinned under the knee died under the knee of the Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin.

President Biden had hoped to sign a giant national Police Reform Bill by tomorrow, but those negotiations are still not resolved. The Floyd family was in Minneapolis over the weekend. You can see some pictures here of a rally held in George Floyd's honor.

Our Senior Washington Correspondent Joe Jones is in Minneapolis live for us Joe, its summer weekend and missed deadline for the president but even more so an important summer weekend in Minneapolis.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: That's true, John. And we're in the middle of what is really three days of remembrance of the death of George Floyd and there is an expectation here about getting the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act across the finish line.

People are not talking so much about the bill not passing. They're talking about the possibility of a watered down bill saying the Congress needs to take their time, get it right, pass a bill with teeth and this just all goes to show how much this murder case in Minneapolis has morphed into what is essentially a national political movement.

[12:20:00]

KING: And it's important to say it's not just about George Floyd, but about all the people whose names we might not have known had what happened here in Minneapolis a year ago not happen. Listen now to the sister of George Floyd, who talked about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIDGET FLOYD, GEORGE FLOYD'S SISTER: It has been a painful year, where we say we have justice for George we also have gotten justice for families nobody has seen behind the curtain is. All the cases that nobody has seen or heard about he brought them out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So we had a marching rally last night and we have a candlelight vigil tomorrow. There's a lot of energy surrounding this movement here in Minneapolis right now John, back to you.

KING: Joe Johns glad you're there at this moment. Maybe the people here in Washington trying to negotiate can watch what's happening there and get some new energy for it back with me CNN's Manu Raju, "POLITICO's" Laura Barron-Lopez.

So let's start with that and let's listen to one of the principles. Senator Cory Booker, Former Mayor of Newark. So you understand the play understands the policing issue and the controversy quite well, now United States Senator a Democrat involved in negotiations, he says, we need more time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): We're making meaningful progress. I've said where my line is? We wrote a bill with Senator now Vice President Harris in the Senate, along with our House allies, Karen Bass, Congressman Nadler. That said very clearly, we want to eliminate qualified immunity. And that is where we're starting clearly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Their main negotiator on the Republican side is Senator Tim Scott, who a couple of weeks ago said he thought this will be resolved in a couple of weeks. This can happen in Washington, we all saw what happened after the death of Mr. Floyd? They protested all summer long. And there were commitments in this town bipartisan commitments more from the Democrats, but bipartisan commitments, we're going to try to tackle this issue well--

RAJU: It's hard. I mean, they are talking. So unlike a lot of issues in this town, where they actually are not talking and they claim they want to get something done. There is actual a genuine effort to try to get negotiations that are meeting almost every single day. But they're still far apart on some key sticky boards. Two of them, one of them, he's referring to there's the issue of qualified immunity, which right now protects police officers from getting sued in civil core. Democrats want to do away with that, that's been a dividing line.

Tim Scott has proposed an alternative for police departments to get sued, not the officer. So they've gone back and forth over that language for weeks. And the other one is lowering the criminal prosecution standard for officers themselves. Democrats want to make them liable in criminal court if they were recklessly acting in a certain way.

That is off the table for Tim Scott. And it looks like that will not get into the ultimate final product here. But they're still a ways away. They don't have a deal yet. And it's not clear yet if they will come to one?

KING: Right, because there are so many. We're going to talk about them throughout the hour. There are so many other issues too. And if this - I know this does not make sense a lot of time to you watching around the country, because you have to juggle a lot of things in your lives.

Washington has a funny process where we're too busy, we can't do things. It's an election year coming. So just moments ago, let's listen to Jen Psaki, first, the White House Press Secretary talking about this issue. Let's listen and then we'll talk on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president is still very much hopeful that he will be able to sign the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act into law. And we are of course very closely engaged with a range with the negotiators while also leaving them room to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: That language is a response Laura to some excellent reporting you have over the weekend in POLITICO. I want to read a little bit of it. Biden's defer to Congress approach on police reform stands in contrast to the very active role he and the administration are playing in negotiating other legislative priorities chief among them a massive infrastructure spending bill.

Stakeholders say it reflects a larger sense that negotiations around policing and racial justice can be extremely delicate push too much, and Republicans may recoil. Sit back too far in progress may prove elusive. This is the president who served nearly four decades in the United States Senate but on this one, they are stepping back.

BARRON-LOPEZ: Yes, they've been prioritizing infrastructure, which all you know, common sense would say both parties really want to work on infrastructure. Police reform is a much more contentious issue as Manu just laid out. They can't agree so far on qualified immunity on these key police accountability measures. And that's something that a lot of activists and a lot of the grassroots and Black Lives Matter they are really big on those police accountability measures. So far the White House has been stepping back has been deferring to Congress because they understand the sensitivity of these negotiations.

They're happening between a few key players or happening between Senator Tim Scott, Congresswoman Karen Bass, Senator Cory Booker, and they're very tight lipped about what is actually going on in those negotiations right now?

So there's a few White House staff like Susan Rice from the Domestic Policy Council, Cedric Richmond, a Former Congressman himself who have been talking to lawmakers, but they're really trying to let the Hill work it out themselves.

[12:25:00]

RAJU: Yes. And one thing too Booker and Scott have a very close personal friendship too. In that it's not the usual, you know, we're friends, as everyone says, in Washington. They're actually legitimately good friends. So there is a lot of trust there.

And there's an expectation that they can get a deal. And in a rare thing for the leadership on both sides, they're letting their members actually try to come to an agreement on something. So that's given some hope that they could actually be a deal. But again, a lot of issues remain.

KING: A lot of issues - we'll see what the president does with this platform? He has tomorrow on the anniversary with the Floyd family at the White House. Up next for us, Laura just mentioned the issue the President and Republicans are trillions of dollars apart. And they can't even agree on the definition of infrastructure. So should they keep talking or give up?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)